One Too Many Mountains
by just drifting
Summary: The Dollhouse is once again under threat from Alpha and Adelle must call in an old friend for help. Written for the multifandom crossover exchange on livejournal


"The situation is becoming critical, ma'am," Laurence Dominic is saying. "Alpha is terrorising this facility. We need to act now and stop him."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Adelle asks. It's true, Alpha is back on the radar and he's becoming a larger problem every day they let him slip by, but they've gone up against him before and that didn't end up well. Adelle's not willing to risk any more of her staff until she's certain there'll be some gain from it.

Dominic sighs. "I'm not sure. We've tried man power before and he slit their throats one by one. Maybe we need to use stealth this time, get him from behind."

"And how do we do that?" Dominic is a capable man and her best Head of Security yet, but they're all at their wits end with this Alpha situation and Adelle is more than a little fed up.

"I'm still working on it." Dominic's smile is wry, there's no humour to it. He steps down and looks to Adelle for an order.

"Let me know if you find anything. In the mean time, something needs to be done, and it needs to be done now. I wonder..." she trails off, looking thoughtful. "I have a friend. I haven't seen him in a few years, but he might be of some use." Turning to Mr. Dominic, she says, "You are excused. Keep looking for a solution."

Dominic nods then steps out the door. Adelle stares at the phone on her desk. She didn't part with him on the best of terms, and she hasn't heard from him in years, but he's a good man. If he doesn't help, people will die, and neither she, nor he, can stand that. He's her last resort.

Slowly, Adelle picks up the phone.

* * *

The Doctor is at the Tardis console when its phone starts to ring. Confused, because since when does the Tardis phone ring?, but curious nonetheless, he answers it.

"Hello?"

"Doctor, it's Adelle. I... I need your help."

* * *

It's more than awkward, talking to him again. Adelle knows it's mostly her fault for the way they separated and the bad blood between them. He's a good soul, much more so than her. He spends his life helping people, and she likes to think she does too. But he doesn't wipe people's brains and use them for God knows what. It's not difficult to see the way in which he's helping. He helped her once before; saved her life, both from aliens and from the rut she was in, and let her travel with him for a few weeks. It ended after awhile. She wanted to go home, make a life for herself. Travelling through time and space was all very exciting, but it just wasn't for her. Besides, he had too many secrets. Still, she would like to make good on their relationship, if he agrees to help her once more.

She's not sure how to explain the Dollhouse to him in a way that shines it in a good light. She can't. As expected, he's disgusted. He asks her how she could do such a thing, how she could willingly do what she does to people. She tries to explain, tries to make him see that it's all for the greater good, that like him, she's helping people, she's just doing it differently. He won't listen, he won't understand, so she lets him look badly on her and her house. She moves on.

"A few months ago, we had a composite event. An active, Alpha, went mad. He killed tens of my staff and my actives, then escaped. We've been trying to track him down, but every time we get close, he slips away. He's becoming more of a problem now than ever before. We need to stop him, but we don't know how. I wouldn't have called, but you're my last resort. I need to him stopped. I can't let him kill any more people."

"You've brought this on yourself, Adelle," the Doctor says. It's not that he doesn't want to help her, but sometimes bad things happen to bad people.

"I know. Most of this is all my fault. If it was just me he was hurting, I wouldn't ask, but he's killing _innocent_ people, Doctor. People _I_ promised to protect. You know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent."

"No, you wouldn't have." There's a pause before he says, "Alright, I'll help you."

"Thank you. Do you know where to go?"

"The Tardis locked onto your signal as soon as I picked up the phone. Give me half an hour. I'll see you soon."

"Alright. Thank you, Doctor. We can't do this without you."

"No need to thank me. Just doing what I always do. Besides, it's been awhile since I've been to LA."

* * *

Mr. Dominic stands behind Adelle's desk. The situation has been explained to him and he waits with her now to meet their guest.

"Are you certain about this, ma'am?" he asks.

"Quite," Adelle replies. "The Doctor is our best bet at finding and defeating Alpha. You know as well as I do the importance of that."

"If you say so."

Adelle smirks and turns to look out into space. "I do. I really do."

* * *

The sound of the Tardis landing pulsates through the air. It can probably be heard all through the house. Topher has joined them and he and Dominic both do a double-take as it starts to materialize in the room. Adelle does nothing, keeping her expression carefully blank. She stands  
when the door opens, ready to come face to face with the Doctor once again.

Instead of the Doctor, however, another man steps out. "Addie!" he exclaims.

Adelle smiles warmly and steps forward to meet him. "Jack," she says. "It's been too long."

Jack grabs her and pulls her into a hug. Adelle imagines Topher and Dominic are both very confused at the moment, but she hadn't expected the Doctor to bring anyone along with him, and she hasn't seen Jack in so long.

She steps back and there's another man she hasn't seen before. The expression on his face is familiar though. "I see you've regenerated," she says.

He nods. "Just once."

They stand there awkwardly for a few moments. "It's good to see you again, Doctor," she says softly, feeling almost ashamed at the admission.

He nods again. "You too," and they fall into silence again.

It's then that Topher says, "Um, anyone want to explain to me how I just saw a police box materialize out of thin air?"

* * *

The whole story has to be explained to Topher and Dominic. Topher is very vocal about it, exclaiming and talking wildly when they tell him about aliens and time travel. Dominic is sceptical at first, but after being shown the Tardis and receiving a confirmation from Adelle, he reluctantly believes.

Adelle finds that this new Doctor is different to her old one. She's not entirely sure if it's a good different or a bad different. He talks more, wildly sometimes. In fact, he reminds her of Topher, and the two get along well. He jumps about and runs his hands through his hair. He actually smiles, something her Doctor never did. His fashion sense has changed radically, too. No more is the black leather jacket, it's been replaced by a pinstriped suit and converse sneakers. Some things never change, though. Adelle can still detect the same darkness in him, the same overwhelming sadness. Every so often she catches him staring into space, and his eyes hold such desolation she has to look away.

"So tell me about your sociopath," the Doctor says once everything has calmed down a bit. Topher still vibrates in his seat and Dominic still looks unsure, but Adelle figures it's the best she's going to get. She nods to Dominic and he stands to retrieve Alpha's folder. He comes back and hands it to the Doctor.

"This is his file," Adelle tells him. They sit on the couches in her office. Jack leans over to glance at the folders. "Alpha was always one of our best actives. He was...different. He could adapt to situations extremely well. We thought nothing of it. A few months ago, he was in art class and he attacked another active, Whiskey, with the scissors he was using. He was taken upstairs for a wipe and composited. He killed many of my staff. Now he's out and still killing people."

Dominic points to the photos of Alpha's victims in the file. "That's how he kills them. And he does it fast."

"Yikes," Jack says, wrinkling his nose.

"Yes."

The Doctor stands abruptly, the file going sprawling across the floor. "Do you realize what you've created here?!" he yells. "The kind of monster you've released on the world?"

Adelle stands as well, but she talks calmly where the Doctor shouts. "I'm well aware of that, Doctor. This is where you come in. Alpha is still a threat. He needs to be stopped, but whenever I send my men in he leaves them bleeding on the ground. We need to try a different approach."

"What about your employers?" Jack asks "Don't they want this guy stopped, too? Can't they do something?"

Adelle shakes her head. "Rossum doesn't care about anyone besides themselves. Alpha is no longer harming the Dollhouse, not directly, so he is no threat to them. They don't care if he kills innocent people."

"So it's up to us," Dominic says.

The Doctor sits again. He rests his chin in his hand and appears deep in thought. "Okay, let's get to work. I'd like to see your labs, then we can work something out from there."

* * *

The Doctor is impressed by their technology. He says it's like nothing he's ever seen in the 21st century. He also says it's evil, but Adelle ignores him. The Doctor is very self-righteous. For him the lines between good and evil are black and white. She lives in grey areas in terms of morals, and that's not good enough for him. She's fine with it, though.

Jack stands beside her while Topher and the Doctor go through the equipment. "So this is what you've been up to, Adelle?" he says.

Adelle looks away. She shouldn't be ashamed, she knows, but it's hard. Dominic is off to the side, watching her. He meets her eyes briefly then quickly focuses his gaze back on Topher, but he's been caught. "Shall we step outside?" she asks Jack. He looks at Dominic, then nods. They walk out in silence to stand looking over the atrium. The actives mill around below, innocent, unaware of the dangers all around them. "You don't understand it, I know," Adelle says. "You think everything we do here is wrong, evil. We should be behind bars, never to see the light of day.  
We're despicable, disgusting." She meets his eyes briefly before glancing away again. "But you don't understand."

Jack sighs and moves closer to her so that they're almost touching. "No, I don't, but nothing you ever did could be truly evil." He squeezes her shoulder but she pulls away and smiles wryly.

"I've changed since you last saw me, Jack. I'm not the same person I was before. I think you'd be surprised."

* * *

The Doctor asks about Alpha's whereabouts and he and Dominic sit around a map of Los Angeles.

"We've managed to track him down to an approximate area of about a kilometre but we're at a loss after that. We could go in searching for him but chances are he'll find us first," Dominic tells him. He indicates a place on the map, then pulls out a more detailed map of the area and starts explaining where Alpha might be.

The Doctor nods along with him and asks questions where he needs to. After awhile, he stands. "Alright, let's go."

From her place at her desk, Adelle says, "You're not seriously considering going in now? You don't have any sort of plan."

"Don't need a plan. I've got it all worked out." He motions to Jack to follow him and before Adelle can do anything, the two step into the Tardis.

* * *

Adelle paces the floor nervously. The Doctor is smart, she knows, the smartest person she's ever met, including Topher, but so is Alpha, and Alpha's doubly dangerous. The Doctor doesn't understand that, doesn't understand how much danger he's really in. She drops her head into her hands. This is all her fault. Either or both of her friends could die. She wants her house saved, but not at that cost.

Dominic stands behind her desk, hands behind his back, the perfect picture of composure, but he watches Adelle with worried eyes. "I'm sure they'll be fine, ma'am," he says after awhile.

Adelle ignores him. "He's going to get himself killed!" she exclaims. "He's being an idiot."

"With respect, this is what you brought him in to do. Go after Alpha."

Adelle halts in her tracks, and pauses to consider. "Yes, but not like this," she says. "This is foolish."

"Then how? How else would he have gone in?"

Adelle glares at him and doesn't answer. She resumes her pacing.

* * *

The Doctor and Jack walk slowly. They're in some old deserted building. In the Doctor's hands is a box of some sort that leads them to Alpha.

"So, Doc, what're we gonna do once we find him?" Jack asks. Truthfully, he agrees with Adelle. There's no sense in going in this early in the game, when they're unsure of their subject. But Jack will follow the Doctor anywhere, and if he wants to go after him now, he'll go with him. Still, he's a little nervous.

"I want to try to talk to him first. He's still a person, despite what Adelle has done to him. I think, if I get him into the Tardis, I can reverse it."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"We'll see."

They keep walking.

* * *

"Go," Adelle says. "Go now."

Dominic nods. "Right away."

* * *

"He's in here?" Jack whispers, crouched against a door. They'd walked around a bit before the device had led them here.

The Doctor nods. "Yup."

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three."

They push open the door. Inside, they can see a man crouched over a computer. It's dark in the room, but the glow from the computer screen illuminates his face. He doesn't look particularly dangerous. That is, until he turns to them, a malicious smile on his face. "I've been waiting for you."

The Doctor holds his hands up. "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to help," he says as he approaches him slowly. "I can make you better, take all this away."

"Don't need fixing," Alpha spits at him. His head twists and he starts to babble, "Maybe we do need fixing. Won't fix, only hurt. Kill them all!" He snaps his head back around to glare at the Doctor. "I'm already my best." He stands quickly, the chair he was sitting on going crashing to the side. In his hand, the blade of a knife glistens. Jack tries to jump in front of the Doctor, but Alpha lunges and ends up knocking the both of them to the ground. They struggle, but Alpha's strong, stronger than they anticipated.

There's a colossal bang and Alpha goes limp above them. The two lay there, breathless, until Alpha's body is hauled off and they come face to face with an angry Dominic.

"What were you thinking?" Dominic yells. "He could have killed you!"

The Doctor ignores him. "You shot him! Why'd you shoot him? I was so close to getting through."

Dominic looks baffled. "He attacked you. I had no choice."

"It was all part of the plan."

Dominic throws his hands in the air and rolls his eyes. "I saved your life! You could at least be thankful. But it doesn't matter. Ms. DeWitt wants you back at the House, so we better go." He moves to leave but the Doctor shakes his head.

"Tardis," he says, pointing to the blue box.

Dominic hesitates but the Doctor leaves no room for discussion. His expression is sour as he storms towards the Tardis and Dominic can do nothing but follow. He's still disconcerted by the way the ship is bigger on the inside but he tries not to let it show. He's always been a master of composure, so it's not hard but the Doctor still grins cockily at him. "Hold on, it's a bit of a bumpy ride." Dominic just has time to grab the railing before the Tardis starts to whine and shake.

* * *

Adelle is not pleased, but that was to be expected. She marches straight up to the Tardis when it materialises in her office, throws open the door and gets right up in the Doctors face. "What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!"

"I had it all under control," the Doctor says. He grins at her and holds out his arms. "See. No harm done."

Off to the side, Dominic snorts. "Alpha had the two of them pinned when I arrived," he informs Adelle.

The Doctor rolls his eyes. "I had it all under control until your man over there came in and shot him!"

Sharply, Adelle says, "It was lucky Mr. Dominic reached you in time, but I don't enjoy leaving things to luck. This won't happen again." She turns on her heel and leaves.

* * *

Dominic explains to Adelle the situation and they send a team in to clean up. Adelle is more than happy to have Alpha gone for good but she's still upset at the Doctor for going in alone. She knows he thought he was fine, but she's dealt with Alpha before and the Doctor going after him alone had scared her more than she'd care to admit. There are things that need to be worked out between them, things they haven't had time to talk about before.

Jack is showing Topher the Tardis controls. Topher seems completely overwhelmed by the advanced technology and acts like a child in a candy store, dancing around and clapping his hands in glee. Dominic has disappeared to his own office to make reports on Alpha, so Adelle and the Doctor are left alone.

"We need to talk," Adelle says.

The Doctor grins and says laughingly, "I always hate when people say that. It's so foreboding and melodramatic."

"Doctor."

The Doctor sobers instantly and drops his head. "Sorry. I'll be serious."

Adelle steps closer to him so that they're standing face to face. She's almost as tall as him but still he seems to tower over her. "I'm sorry, about the things I said before I left." Adelle isn't one for apologies but she knows she needs to give one for this. The Doctor had been nothing but kind to her all through their time together, but that hadn't been enough for her. She'd wanted more. She'd wanted close friendship, love even, things he hadn't. He wanted a companion, sure, someone he could trust, someone he could laugh with and bump shoulders against, but they'd never managed to get close and she'd stormed out of there before they could.

"It's alright. I think...some of what you said was justified. It was my fault too. I'm sorry."

They're silent then, but it's not awkward. Just her simple admission of being wrong and being sorry has made things semi-okay. They still have a long way to go and they probably will never be very close again, but there's a new peace to their relationship that wasn't there before.

* * *

Alpha has been well and truly taken care of. Rossum has been notified and they are very pleased with the result. The actives and staff are safe from the monster. He can only haunt them in their dreams now. The Doctor has done what he came to do and he and Jack are only stalling their departure.

Adelle stands at her usual position above the atrium. She hears someone approach behind her and isn't surprised when she turns to see the Doctor. He stands beside her, watching the actives below.

"I can't let you continue," he says. When she glances over, he's not looking at her. "All I want to do is help people and you've got a...zombie factory here, exploiting basic human rights. I can't let the Dollhouse stand. I must bring it down."

Adelle waits a moment before replying. "You can't bring down the Dollhouse, Doctor. It's too big. It's not just this one, it's everywhere, in every country in the world. Rossum is too big, too powerful. You can only bring yourself down trying. There are other people in need of your help, these ones are fine. Forget about them."

The Doctor wheels on her sharply. "I cannot _forget_. I have to help these people, no matter what it takes."

Adelle turns away, and her voice is sad when she speaks. "I doubt we will ever bridge this gap between us. It has grown too large, and I don't know if I want to try." She turns to face him again. "Goodbye, Doctor, though I don't suppose this will be the last time I'll see you."

"It won't," the Doctor says. He looks angry and upset, but when she reaches for him, he takes her into his arms. When he and Adelle meet again, they will be on different sides of the war. This is the ending of a friendship that had so much potential to grow. Adelle holds him tightly, she doesn't want to let go. But she knows she has to, so eventually she pulls away.

He doesn't look back as he walks to the Tardis and she doesn't call out. The door clicks shut with finality. The sounds of the Tardis fills the air, and Adelle watches even after it's gone.


End file.
